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50 years on the `lamb' This past weekend, we had `an event'. Ya see, The Sidekick hit that halfcentury mark. She's now 50 years old. Some people absolutely hate birthdays, while others try to ignore them. Then there's The Sidekick. She revels in birthdays. You see, she's of the opinion that having birthdays is good for your health-- if you're celebrating a birthday, that means you're living longer. She maintains having a birthday sure beats the alternative. That would mean you're dead. I figure The Sidekick has the right idea. If you can't control it, just revel in it. Being the youngest of a family of six, The Sidekick is the last one to cross that five decade milestone. Her family is spread across Canada, as far east as Montreal, and as far west as Vancouver Island. For them, celebrating a family event requires lots of planning. Her family has a unique way of celebrating that 50 year marker-- they collectively send 50 items which have a certain theme. Her one brother, a diver on the west coast, received 50 `boats' of all shapes and sizes when it was his time. One sister found 50 Christmas decorations in her mail when she turned 50, (apparently her `Charlie Brown tree' needed lots of help in the decoration department). Hers was a challenge, as her birthday is in July, so finding decorations at that time of year required considerable pre-planning. One brother-in-law received toy farm tractors of varying sizes, and another sister received 50 `fuzzy' items, as she used to have the nickname `Fuzz'. (Don't ask-- I have no idea where that one came from... nor do I want to know.) The one that required a great deal of planning and global synchronization was the sister in Montreal Apparently, this sister didn't embrace the 50th birthday thing like The Sidekick. In fact, she hadn't told her boyfriend that she was 50. Seems she Ted Brown conveniently dropped a few years, like maybe 10. So her siblings, being the loving caring individuals that they are, sent her 50 birthday cards, one to arrive in the mail every day for 50 days before her birthday, and each one screaming `Happy 50th Birthday'. Adding to the effectiveness of the mission, her kids, who were in on the ploy, made sure all the cards were on display when their mom's boyfriend came to visit, in spite of the fact she'd taken great pains to hide them the moment they arrived. The Sidekick wasn't sure what to expect, and it seems her family had mixed feelings what to feature-- so they decided on two themes. One theme was lambs, which is pretty obvious. She received toy lambs, lamb oven mitts, bobble-head lambs, lamb napkins, lamb sculptures, musical lambs and a lamb key-chain. She even received a novel by Walter Lamb and a bottle of Lamb's White Rum. And the other theme? Well, when she was much younger, it seems The Sidekick had a bad experience concerning one of those hanging sticky fly strips. It was something to do with her hair. And they've never let her forget it. She is now the proud owner of a zillion fly strips, which will probably come in handy this summer, hanging in the barn. Her siblings were quick to warn me of the danger of using them-- I'm told they've gotta be hung really high. Otherwise, I just might find The Sidekick trapped, hanging by her hair in the barn. 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